#because the continuity of the story has basically been thrown away

[troonwolf]

one thing that does annoy me about the Gw2 story is how after the plot reveal of the dragons being necessary to the planet happens, everyone starts acting like this was an obvious fact that everyone just knew, and that the commander is an idiot for killing two dragons. nevermind the fact he wasn’t even the person leading the attack in the first case, and only took over the lead in the second case because their command structure fell apart.

also kind of irritating because I like Trahearne but it’s another example of how while he’s alive, he gets all the praise for everything you do, and then when he’s dead you get all the blame for everything he did. people even start calling you things like “leader of the pact” and “commander of the pact” even though you were never the leader, aren’t in the pact anymore, and actually rejected taking over command a few episodes ago.

and it would be one thing if the game was self-aware about it, but it seems to genuinely want you to think that the dragon plot reveal was an obvious fact that you just ignored. like everyone in Elona seems to be aware of how all this works and you’re mocked on several occasions for killing the dragons, but for years before this point no one had a fucking clue and Taimi was the one to figure it out. so if it wasn’t for you and your guild, people still wouldn’t be aware of this

[peterman-spideyparker]

Drunk on You (Matt Murdock x fem!Reader)

Author’s Note: Hey everyone! Court, aka @chvoswxtch, is a talented genius amazing superstar talent whose fic "ours." has consumed my mind all week and has inspired me. I hope I've done you proud, and I hope you like it! :)

Summary: Yours and Matt's relationship is still relatively new, but it's different in every conceivable way, and it's amazing. His plans for a nice romantic night in, however, get thrown for a loop before you arrive, and all he can think of is you.

Warnings: Fluff, Foggy and Karen being Foggy and Karen, shameless smut (talk of birth control and side effects, f!receiving oral, fingering, m!receiving oral, protected p in v sex, failed attempt at bondage, dirty talk, praise), swearing, these guys are basically soulmates, okay, they're in love and have thought about a future together and there's a whole detailed world for them in my head

Other Characters: Foggy Nelson, Karen Page

Word Count: 3,586

Matt’s hands slide over his watch face for the time. “Do you guys think you can handle things here for the rest of the day?” he asks his friends.

“I think we can handle it,” Foggy hums, taking in the quiet office space around them. “You have a date with that girl, don’t you? Or is it a different one?”

“Nope, it should be the same girl,” Karen says. “It’s still within the time frame.”

Matt furrows his brows as he turns toward his friends. “Time frame?”

“Do we really need to go over this again, Mr. Serial Dater?” Foggy sighs. “How many girls did you see last year alone?”

“I don’t—.”

“Ten,” Karen supplements. “I mean, technically, it was nine because you dated the same girl twice, but they all fizzled out just as soon as they started. None of them lasted over two months.”

“And that’s not counting hookups we don’t know about. If my math is right, we’re almost at the two month mark in—.” Foggy turns to look at the calendar hanging on the wall to confirm. “—about a half of a week.”

“Thank you for the countdown, Father Time, but I don’t see that happening with her. She’s different.”

“Do we at least get her name? Since she’s so different than the others, that is,” Karen tries hopefully, and Matt can tell she’s eagerly biting her lip.

“(Y/N),” he concedes. “Her name is (Y/N). (Y/N/N).”

“Ooh, full name and a nickname. Are you treating (Y/N) to a fancy night out?” Foggy asks.

“Nope,” Matt grins, sliding on his jacket.

“Oh?” Karen hums. “Finally going to bring her to Josie’s?”

“So you guys can just happen to stroll in? No,” Matt continues to smile. “Not that it’s any of your business, but that’s where we met.”

“So, no fancy restaurant, no Josie’s . . .”

“I’m cooking for her at my place tonight. Happy now?”

Foggy and Karen ooh at him like a bunch of fifth graders.

“Well, here’s hoping she’s a heavy sleeper in case you hear a bank robbery across town and need to suit up.”

“Well, she knows.”

He can tell the way that they look at him, absolutely stunned. “Knows?” Karen repeats.

Matt puts his fingers up by his head to mimic his devil horns.

“EXCUSE ME?” Foggy shouts.

“It’s a long story, guys, and I have a dinner to prepare.”

“Let us know when the wedding is!” Foggy shouts as Matt leaves the office. “Knows . . . She knows! . . .”

Matt finishes plating the food before lighting the candles on the table, blowing out the match as he freezes in his tracks. His senses are good—he can always tell when you’re near, even though you haven’t been seeing one another long. But this time, even though you’re about a block away, it feels like you’re so much closer. Your scent is much stronger than usual. It’s not perfume, shampoo, or detergent clinging to your dress—it’s you. Matt can practically taste you on his tongue when he lets out a deep breath through his mouth, and it drives him wild. His thoughts are fuzzy, and all he can think of is how he wants his hands on you, dragging over every dip and curve of your body right until he’s between—.

Matt practically jumps out of his skin when you rap at his door. With one more deep breath and a quick adjustment to his pants, he makes his way to the door, swinging it open and greeting you with a warm smile. As soon as the door is even open a crack, you drown his senses. He feels almost drunk, and he just wants you.

“Hi,” he smiles, leaning in for a kiss. You meet him halfway, pressing your front flush against his, resting a gentle hand on his waist. He pulls you in even further, desperately trying to deepen the kiss. You smile and giggle into the embrace before you lean back and look up at him.

“Hello to you, too,” you smile. “It smells really good in here, and you look like quite the chef with your sleeves all rolled up and a towel over your shoulder.”

“You like the look, hm?” he teases, closing the door close and kissing your neck some more as he walks you into the loft.

“I do. I like it so much, I almost dropped the bottle of wine I brought, especially if you keep kissing that spot.”

He pulls back and kisses the top of your head. “Well, I’m glad you’ve both survived this far.” Matt, on the other hand, is barely holding on. Every second that you’ve been here—the whole 90 of them—he’s had to restrain himself from jumping on you the way he so desperately wants.

“How about we sit first?” Matt hums, giving your arm a squeeze.

“You’ve plated everything. I’d hate for the food to get cold. This looks lovely.” You lean over, kissing his cheek. As your lips leave his skin, he turns into you, kissing you deeply before dragging his embraces down your neck and up to the sweet spot behind your ear, humming in delight as he takes you in and kisses your skin. You let out a soft moan, your knees buckling slightly as you lean into him and hold onto his body.

“‘m pretty sure that this is supposed to happen after dinner,” you swallow, your fingers desperately holding onto his arms.

“Dinner can wait. You smell too good,” he murmurs into your skin, taking the wine from your hand and putting it on the island.

“I—!”

You suck in a breath in surprise when his hands travel low and squeeze at your hips.

“You smell good,” he repeats, his voice dipping low. “Better than dinner—better than it tastes.”

Your hands have a mind of their own, moving up his arms, letting your fingers rake through his hair.

“Matt . . .” you breathe. He can sense how your heart races as you hold him close. 

“I can stop if you want to,” he hums, dragging his kisses down along your collarbone. “But I really don’t want to angel.”

You let out a sigh that goes straight to his cock. “I-I don’t have anything,” you tremble, and Matt notices a slight edge of something else in your voice. You sound a little nervous, but it’s not like the two of you haven’t had sex before. There’s been a few times where you’ve done just this—throw your date plans out the window to just spend the night exploring one another’s bodies over and over until you’re both so worn you turn into a tangled mess of limbs in bedsheets. And then it clicks for him. Your smell being extra strong, your elevated temperature, your racing heart, and now the slight nervous tremble in your voice. You’ve been together for two months, and he’s been with you around the time of your period, and even during your period, but as he wracks his brain to work on timelines, he’s positive there’s only one solution.

You’re ovulating.

And you know it.

Matt pulls back slowly, his hands still on your hips as you face him. He desperately works to find your eyes, even though he knows he’ll never be able to, not in the way he wants. 

“And you’re . . . you’re not on . . .?” He doesn’t want to finish the sentence—it makes him feel slimy asking that, but he wants to hear you say it rather than conclude based on assumption, even if that assumption is rooted in everything your body is telling him.

“I-I’m not,” you confirm. “The side effects and stories I’ve heard from friends . . .” You shrug. “It didn’t seem worth it. As contraception or a way to help with periods.” He senses another shift in you, but this one is different. You’re embarrassed, ashamed even. 

“Hey,” Matt says softly, kissing you tenderly. “It’s your body. You need to do what’s best for it.”

You nuzzle into his touch, and he lets out a little hum. “I just hate to have killed the mood. Especially since I smell so irresistible, apparently. And those kisses were pretty damn nice.”

Matt can hear how you smile while you speak when an idea comes to his mind.

“What’s that face?” you smirk, holding onto him adoringly.

“We can still keep the mood going. I mean, I have condoms, but, if you don’t want to use them, I have another idea. All you have to do is sit down and look pretty for me.”

You eagerly bite your lip, making Matt chuckle. He leans forward, pressing a kiss to your lips before leading you to his bedroom.

“Sit down for me, angel,” he hums. “And spread your legs nice and wide for me.”

With a smile, you do as he asks as he softly kisses up your thighs, moving back and forth between each leg until he’s the apex, pressing a large open-mouthed kiss to your covered core. You take in a sharp breath as he slowly kisses and licks at you. For just how badly Matt wants you, he’s surprised and impressed with the restraint he’s showing. You whimper and moan as he begins to set his pace, one of your hands moving to his head and tugging on his hair, urging him to get closer. Between your arousal and his mouth, your panties are absolutely soaked within minutes. 

“Hey,” you whine as he removes his mouth from you. “I was enjoying that.”

“I know,” he grins, sliding his hands up your legs until his thumbs hook around your panties and slide them down your legs before tossing them up behind you on the bed. “Those are mine, now.”

You chuckle, your laughs turning into a moan when he reattaches his lips to your dripping core. Your sounds are louder, more unrestrained now that his lips are on your dripping ones. The way you squirm against Matt’s face only eggs him on, the rotations of your hips are only helping drive your scent further into his nose, injecting pure you into his body. Wet sounds fill the room, even with his face as buried deep as it is, and he can sense the way you lean back more and more until you’re flat on your back on the mattress, still managing to pull at his hair while he eats you out. You’re done for as soon as he slips two fingers in you. You tremble with an intense orgasm as you cry out so hard, Matt can tell it hurts your lungs a little. You squeeze his head with your thighs, and Matt uses his free hand to grip onto your hip and hold you closer, bringing him on the verge of suffocation by pussy—which wouldn’t be the worst way to go, if he’s being honest.

Matt continues to lick and slurp up your juices, pushing you into overstimulation territory, your mews still music to his ears but with a tinge of discomfort, but not before you cum again and coat his face with your delicious release. Moving his lips off of your clit, he gently licks up your mess, pressing kisses all over your pelvis before lifting his head up above the skirt of your dress.

“Better than anything I could’ve cooked,” he grins as he proudly wears your slick on his face. “So good, I want to go back for seconds.”

“You gotta give me a second, tiger,” you breathily laugh, caressing the side of his face, and he desperately turns his head to kiss your palm. “Maybe while I recoop, you can get some condoms? Or at least put the dinner in the fridge so we don’t get poisoned when we get around to actually eating it.”

Matt smiles and pounces on you, caging your body beneath his before holding your face in his hands as he kisses you. You giggle and chase his lips happily, and Matt slips his tongue into your mouth to let you taste yourself even better. You squeal in delight as he presses you into the mattress, and he feels like a giddy teenager in love.

Shit. He loves you. 

He was pretty sure he did—from the moment he met you, he didn’t want to even think about dating anyone else. And call it the pheromones he’s undoubtedly drunk on right now, but he doesn’t see himself being with anyone but you for the rest of his life. 

“What’s on your mind, pretty boy?” you whisper, running your fingers through his hair, and he can tell you’re looking at him as if he’s all the stars in the sky.

Yeah, he loves you.

“You,” he hums. “I got lucky, getting you in my life.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.” This time, it’s your turn to pull him down for a sweet kiss, and Matt feels as if his heart might explode.

“I’ll be right back,” he murmurs against your lips. “Stay just like this.”

“Kay,” you hum.

Matt presses one more kiss to your lips before he scurries out of his room, blowing out the candles, putting the plates in the fridge, and grabbing a box of condoms from his bathroom. When he comes back into his room, he finds you in the same spot he let you, pure relaxation covering you from your head to your toes. 

“You’ve got the stuff,” you smirk, and Matt can’t help but do the same. 

“I do,” he hums as he walks back to you, sitting on the mattress, leaning you up to snuggle into his side. “Are you sure you want to do this tonight? Because trust me, as much as I want to do this with you right now, I can wait until a better time. I don’t mind sticking my head back down between your legs and spending the rest of the night there. I’ll be just as happy there.”

Your eyes flutter shut, leaning into his body and kissing him. “I’m sure. And trust me, if that’s what you eat pussy like when I’m ovulating, I can’t wait to feel how you fuck me. No way I’m waiting to experience that.”

The last part seems to slip out past your lips before you can realize it, and you both know what it implies. A small smile pulls at the corners of Matt’s lips, and he leans forward to kiss you again before you have a chance to feel embarrassed, resting his forehead on yours. That’s not a conversation for tonight, but he’s touched that you’ve even considered it. “Alright, if you’re sure,” he whispers. “But you need to open the package.”

“I will, but first . . .” You straddle his lap and push him down on the mattress. “I think I need to take care of that painful looking bulge in your pants.”

Matt licks his lips in anticipation, listening to how you work yourself over him. You lean over, kissing and sucking a little mark into his neck before you unknot his tie and unbutton his shirt. 

“Do you trust me, Matt?” you ask.

“Completely,” he smiles. 

Taking his tie, you gently move his hands up above his head and begin to knot his fabric around his wrists. 

“Is it too tight?” you ask, brushing hair out of his face as if you’re clearing his line of sight. 

“‘s perfect,” he assures. “So are you.”

He can sense how you blush before you lean down and kiss him, softly dragging embraces down his exposed skin until you get to his pants, undoing his belt and sliding it off, and taking care of his pants, sliding it off his hips, leaving him exposed. He’s painfully hard—he’s surprised he didn’t cum in his pants while he was up to his eyeballs in (Y/N). He sucks in a breath between his teeth when your hand wraps around him, giving him some gentle pumps before you lean down and start to use your mouth. You press feather-light kisses on the underside of his shaft, licking his frenulum and gently caressing his balls. You get the tip of him in your mouth, so warm and wet, he swallows hard. 

“Wait,” he begs. “‘m not gonna last if you keep going like that.”

You smirk as you bring your mouth down toward his base before you let your hot breath spread over him.

“We both know that this isn’t the first time you’ll be cumming tonight, Matty,” you hum. 

You lick along the vein in his shaft until you’re back at the tip, opening your mouth and going down on him. Matt cries out at the top of his lungs, his hips bucking up as he lets out his release. He breaks out of the satin restraint, his hands moving to the sides of your face, not to force you down, but just to have his hands on you. When you finish sucking him dry, you pull off, licking your lips before you swallow.

“I’m offended. You broke out of my knot,” you chuckle. 

“Sorry,” he says with a blissed, dopey smirk. 

“No, don’t apologize. It was hot. Like, really hot. Like, we’re going to have to do something like that in the future hot.”

“Are we now?”

“Mmm. Now, where’d you put that box of condoms?”

Leaning over, you grab the box and pull out the foil package, tearing it open while he gets up and takes off the rest of his clothes before you carefully slide on the latex.

“Sweetheart, I think you’re a little overdressed,” he hums as his hands slide up under your dress. 

“What’re you gonna do about it?” you grin. 

His hands grip the zipper, pulling it down the track before sliding it off of your body, his hands then deftly moving to remove your bra. 

“There we go,” he smiles before leaning in and taking one of your breasts into his mouth, letting himself get lost in the soft, supple flesh. You both roll around in the bed until you’re under him, Matt sliding into you.

“Aah!” you cry out, your fingers grabbing a bruising grip onto his shoulders. It gets stronger the further that he pushes into you. Even with two orgasms and plenty of your arousal dripping from between your legs, you’re still so tight.

“That’s it,” he hums. “That’s it, you’re taking me so well, sweetheart.”

“Fuck!” you cry out, throwing your head back as you scratch angry red lines down his back.

“A little more, angel, you can do it. You can do it . . . Good girl, just like that.”

You both let out a grunt when he bottoms out in you, taking a moment to adjust.

“Just say the word for me, and I’ll start moving.”

“I-I need you,” you say almost immediately. “Matt, please, start moving. D-Don’t hold back.”

He takes your face in his hands, kissing you deeply before he starts thrusting. He does as you ask, not starting slow like he has in your past sexual encounters. Your moans and cries are music to his ears, spurring him on to go even faster, making you cry out louder. 

“Matt!” you cry with a guttural moan. “Yes! You’re so deep!”

“Made f’me,” Matt growls as he throws your legs up over his shoulders and folding you in half. “Mine.”

“Yours! I’m yours!”

Matt slithers a hand up your body, mapping out your soft skin with his touch until his hand is around your neck, holding your jaw, fingers spread before giving it a light squeeze. He listens to how your body reacts immediately, your warm, wet, tight cunt squeezing his cock as a response as you moan and bite your lip.

Matt’s going to have fun with that fact.

“Are you ready to cum, sweetheart?” he coos as he slams into you so hard, he’s pretty sure that your cunt might be permanently stretched and remolded to match the shape of his cock. “Can you cum around my cock for me?”

“Yes,” you whimper, one of your hands dropping to his forearm, giving it a squeeze. “Don’t stop, please don’t stop! Make me cum—make me cum hard! Just don’t stop!”

Matt lowers himself to kiss you deeply, your bodies a tangled, squished mess as he keeps pounding into you. You hold onto his face desperately, deepening the connection and the kiss until you open your mouth to let out an unbridled cry of pleasure. It hurts his ears, but what a sound to go deaf to. His hand slides from your neck, moving to higher up on your waist as he kisses you through your high, his sweaty forehead eventually falling to the crook of your neck as he experiences his own release.

The two of you are a panting, sweaty mess, tangled together and coming back to your senses while he softens inside of you. A few minutes pass, and he finally musters the energy to pull out of you, tying off the condom and throwing it in the trash by his bed.

“If you’re gonna fuck me like that every time I ovulate,” you pant, kissing his cheek before resting your forehead on his temple. “I’m in for a real treat.”

Matt chuckles, enjoying the taste of your skin and how it mixes with your sweat. In that moment, everything is calm, quiet . . . everything makes sense. 

“Oh, sweetheart,” he hums, his hands roaming your body. “We’re not done yet.”

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[vidavalor]

The Movie

The most important thing is that he's gone.

If you're feeling sad that it's not the full season and would like some reassurance about the rest of the story being movie-length, though?

Based on where the story is now? They can absolutely do this in 90 minutes. Would it have been more fun if it was the whole season? Of course. But they can do this in 90 minutes-- and do it well. I think there's actually less to go in the plot in the present than we might realize. How so?

I'm pretty sure the next part of the story has never really been plotted to be Supreme Archangel Aziraphale. The end game seems to me to be a bit more they all have to overthrow Heaven to save Aziraphale and that's how they save the world. Meaning, that was Satan with the coffee in The Final 15 and Aziraphale's fall is the plot. The kickoff here in the movie would be the same as it would have been if we had a full S3: the audience gets the hinted at 2.06 twist revealed in full right near the start when they see Aziraphale get to Heaven and be thrown to Hell by The Metatron. The other characters then quickly learn what's happened to Aziraphale. They band together to challenge Heaven--that's the whole Powell & Pressburger's 'A Matter of Life and Death' trial & how it fits into things.

Aziraphale won't accept a verdict that's just for him and not Crowley as well and the process of all of this winds up exposing and overthrowing The Metatron and Hell, freeing the demons. (Gabriel gets his suit back and is their lawyer, you just know it lol.) By coming together to save Aziraphale, the characters fix Heaven/Hell, which then saves Earth and permanently stops the threat of Armageddon. The remainder of the time is wrap up where Crowley & Aziraphale work through what's happened and then head to the South Downs.

All of that stuff in the present that I just said can actually be done inside of an hour, tops. Especially because no one has to set up the characters and story like they would if this were a stand-alone film. They can just dive straight in. That still leaves at least a half-hour--if not a bit more, depending-- for flashing us back to whatever we need to see that supports what's happening in the present (The Vavoom, 1941, probably Jane Austen, likely one or two other things we don't know we need to see yet). More than likely? This is a series of scenes like the S1 cold open more than it is a longer, single-era, flashback minisode. I don't think anyone would complain about another cold open-like sequence? 😊

The movie can work. For perspective? Look at the chart below.

We are at the Big Twist that is The Act II Climax & it's really almost fully done already. All that's left in that Big Twist is to just overtly tell it to the audience because The Final 15 already did all hinting the set up work for it.

As you can see, we're really just moments away from everyone regrouping for the big, final push of the story-- the Act III Climax/overthrowing Heaven-- before we're into the South Downs Cottage ending. This is one of the reasons why I think that S1 showed us Monday-Sunday of The Last Week of the World: Round One with Armageddon being stopped on Saturday but S2 revealed we were watching The Last Week of the World: Round Two... but then stopped the season early on Friday morning. S3, imho, has always been going to pick up within hours of where the 2.06 cliffhanger ended and show us the mirrored Saturday & Sunday of this week that we still have out there.

They won't need to set up at the start of the film where characters are years later because the S2 story we were watching was always written for S3 to pick up basically right where the S2 cliffhanger leaves off. S3 was always going to continue directly the story of S2 rather than come at the story from a place of a dead stop of years having gone by. I think the best way to look at the movie might be as if it is really the S2 finale. Think of it as if S2 actually has 8 episodes but we've only seen 6 of them so far and we're still awaiting the last two.

Each season of the show, in and of itself, follows that above Three Act Structure, even if the overall series of Good Omens is also following it for its overall story as well. Think back on the last two episodes of S1, which would then be similar in some structural elements and in pacing to this movie.

The Act III Climax in S1 is Armageddon being stopped in Tadfield. That will be overthrowing Heaven in the movie. The Obstacle that followed in S1 as a result of stopping Armageddon and which led into the wrap-up conclusion was Heaven & Hell coming after Crowley & Aziraphale/the body swap plot. When Crowley and Aziraphale solved those obstacles-- in short time, as this is part of the wrap-up-- we then left them dining at The Ritz on Sunday afternoon. These episodes were a very clear-cut example of what an Act III in Three Act Structure within a season looks like and it is likely-- structurally-- going to be very similar to what the model for the finale movie will be. The pacing will be a lot alike, just with some flashbacks in the mix.

Think about how little time it actually took to stop Armageddon once everyone was in Tadfield-- and that most of the finale was just getting characters who had already been set up earlier in the story to Tadfield for that to happen. That's about how much time it's going to take them to overthrow Heaven in the movie. We've actually already watched most of the set up in the story to get to that place in S2. Then, think about how the Obstacles part in S1 was the body swap plot... but how that same type of obstacle wouldn't exist in the S3 movie. Why?

Because this movie is going to stop Armageddon permanently by overthrowing Heaven & Hell. Unlike in S1, when Crowley and Aziraphale were still being targeted, they're going to be truly free for the first time ever by this same point in the S3 movie. So, what are the Obstacles then? Their own stuff. This is where we would get the scenes of two of them having the chance to fully talk through The Final 15 of S2 and, in the process, understand where everything went wrong and have the South Downs Cottage then be the happy ending.

There's plenty of space for this in the story because this is where it's all leading and the part about overthrowing Heaven and Hell-- that Act III Climax that sets up this ending? Going into the movie after where S2 left off, we're actually only a heartbeat away from it already.

This is all very do-able within 90 minutes, with plenty of room for things like The Vavoom and 1941. It might not be the full season that we hoped for but the story is in a way better place to wrap this up with a movie than most shows in this position would be.

[northsoulss]

I don’t know if you request are still open but imagine Elisa de Almeida with S/O that’s really pretty but has a resting B face, always look tired or about to say something rude BUT she has the kindest soul, she always has a nice attitude, and is basically unable so say rude things to son because she’ll feel bad. ( my friend is like this she literally is the nicest human I’ve ever met)

softie - elisa de almeida

(a/n : hi anon! thanks for the request! this is actually my first request so i hope i did it justice! xoxo)

all your life, you have been told that you looked like a bitch by those who don’t know you very well. it did affect you when you were younger, not understanding why people thought of you that way even though you never acted like one. eventually, as you grew up, you stopped caring and instead, you started to embrace it.

you stopped trying to smile more, to look more “friendly”. you started to relax your face, and occasionally get thrown judgmental stares by the general public when you are out and about. especially since you play football, word spreads fast that psg is housing a cold-hearted striker.

that’s what you were known as. “cold”. your friends know better though. they know you were fearlessly loyal, and literally the nicest, and sweetest person alive.

you were known to be powerful and ruthless on the pitch, not taking shit from anyone. however, what the media and the fans didn’t see were the fond smiles shown to your teammates after each game, the gentle acts of services that you always provided; helping your teammates get coffee, being the first the volunteer when people needed help with something. too bad the fans didn’t see you that way.

the day rumours did start to spread like wild fire that you were dating the well known charismatic defender marked the start of your reputation crashing down. there were comments from fans like, “oh my god, how do they even work?”, and you gotta admit that sometimes it does hurt.

whenever you post your usual content on instagram and elisa comments on it with her usual “❤️”, your comment section gets real messy.

it’s easy to say that people just didn’t get why or how you two worked. you, the ruthless, cold-hearted woman, dating elisa, who was charming and bubbly, and to say the least, very smiley.

however, a few months ago, sakina posted on her instagram story a video of elisa just talking, but there you were in the background, staring with a love sick smile. needless to say, you thought the unsolicited comments would start to dial down now that your fans have seen the other side of you, but that was not the case.

“hi baby!” your voice sounds out from the hallway, sitting down to untie your shoes when you feel elisa looming over you. you look up at her with an awkward smile, seeing her with an amused smile with hands on her hips.

“hi.?” you are now confused, and elisa only laughs, taking out her phone and typing something before showing it to you. it was an edit of you, which you were shocked that she watched.

“you watch edits of me baby?” you question, brow raised trying to see her reaction, but she only shakes her head, pointing at the caption instead.

“has our fierce striker turned soft.? what?” you read out, face scrunched up into a frown as you start looking through the comment section. aside from the usual thirsty comments, one in particular caught your eye.

“oh i knew she was a big softie.. what the hell do you mean you knew?!” you practically yell at her phone, utterly shocked. you watch the edit again to see what they meant and you saw it. the clip of you staring at elisa, with eyes practically forming hearts with a fond grin.

“so.. not so cold anymore eh?” she takes the phone back and leans down so that her nose touches yours. she stares into your eyes with her piercing gaze, and you immediately shove her away, obviously flustered. you mumble a “no..” under your breath, trying to continue with what you were doing before elisa interrupted you.

“well, softie. i think things are about to get alot more interesting at our next match.” she hoists you up from the hallway bench and kisses you, lips searingly hot. you only kiss back with just as much energy, groaning when she presses you against the wall. at least now people know you aren’t just some bitch.

©️northsoulss 2023, all rights reserved.

[idkaguyorsomething]

The Problem of Susan Fic Recs

For many reasons, The Last Battle is probably the most contentious addition to the Narnia canon. The standout, though, has to be the infamous Problem of Susan, wherein the Pevensie children are all killed in a train crash and brought to Narnia 2 Electric Boogaloo aka heaven, then declare that Susan is no longer a friend of Narnia because of her interest in “lipsticks and nylons”. Hardly any time is spent on this, but the implications have been the ground for a lot of argument and discussion. What exactly would happen to Susan, and should it have happened? Over the years, dozens of fic writers have thrown their hats in the ring and weighed in on the subject, making the Problem of Susan almost a prism for the fandom: everyone shines through it a bit differently, resulting in a wide spectrum. Here’s some of the highlights under the cut.

http://shedletsky.com/blog/the-god-who-loves-you

Starting with the fic that coined the term, written by Neil Gaiman himself, this fic is a reflection and deconstruction of the idea that Susan would be able to find Narnia again by delving into the trauma that the experience of losing all her family at once as well as the social injustices that a young woman of her time would’ve faced, something that the narrative of The Last Battle never really addresses. It took off for a reason, as it presents a lot of good food for thought, but it’s also got some pretty weird shit that can feel like it’s conflating adulthood with edginess. Well worth a read for all the points it raises, but if you’re fond of canon you probably won’t like the way it takes a hammer to it.

Now this one is exactly what you’d want to read if you wanted some feel-good time. This story is probably the closest to how C S Lewis would’ve written Susan’s return to Narnia, detailing her rediscovering all the things she put away as well as what led up to her rejecting Narnia in the first place. It falls more to the end of being almost uncritical of canon, with the focus on Susan basically having the same sort of religious rediscovery that C S Lewis himself had in his life. Because of how she was treated in canon, that can be pretty frustrating, but the ending feels nothing short of joyous.

Swinging back to the other end of the spectrum, this fic is very critical of the idea of The Last Battle being a pretty happy ending for everyone, unambiguously stating that life is always worth living for all the Pevensie kids. It explores what their lives could’ve been like if they didn’t die, being a rebuttal of C S Lewis’ themes rather than a continuation of them while feeling equally as happy as the fic directly above.

And this story feels like a midway point between the above two. It dives really deep into the emotional damage that Susan would’ve suffered before and after the train crash in some absolutely gorgeous prose, showing both her and Aslan with great sympathy while maintaining that what happened to her is not a punishment in any way. Bittersweet and very, very good.

Heading back towards the more critical end of the spectrum, this fic presents a Susan who is not interested in finding Narnia again, only her family. She is very much a character straight out of an ancient myth rather than a teen trying to make sense of a senseless situation here, filled with determination as much as desperation. It’s probably the closest fic on here to having something close to a plot as well as a character study, with the exception of The Queen’s Return and one other:

Being a crossover with what’s pretty much the antithesis of the Chronicles of Narnia, His Dark Materials, it’s probably easy for you to guess which side of the spectrum this story falls on. It’s more of a HDM story than a Narnia one, but the two worlds blend together surprisingly well, and it gives us a rare look into a Susan who’s lived decades of her life when the story picks up. She’s pretty much the Professor and it is fascinating, as is everything left to interpretation by this gem of a fic that is ambiguous yet deeply satisfying.

¡And here’s Susan as a Doctor Who companion! This isn’t directly a Narnia story so much as it is one about two people much older than they look mourning the loss of their worlds, with a Susan who is a queen wise beyond her years. Reading it is like taking an ice shower. It doesn’t hold back on the grief, and as a result it manages to feel honest as it reaches a warm ending.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/24311

Despite also being a crossover, this is in some ways the opposite of touch the sky with two arms. Susan is more of an everyday young woman than a queen, and [SLIGHT SPOILERS] Narnia itself does feature directly. But y’know, that’s part of what makes fandom so interesting. Not everyone is going to have the same take on everything, and the ending of this leans more happy than melancholy.

¿A shipping fic that’s also a crossover with Peter Pan that features neither Neverland or Narnia? Yes, this one probably has the least to do with Narnia or Aslan, but it tells a very compelling story about living life and growing up, something that isn’t perfect but can be good if you find someone you want to spend your life with. Susan Pevensie and Wendy Darling are a really good couple, pinky promise.

Technically more a series of ensemble oneshots, but Susan features very prominently in a lot of them, and they will make you feel every feeling that everything else on this list might’ve given you. Satisfaction, devastation, simple joy, just go give it a shot.

[maleyanderecafe]

There is a Rat in Our House (Webcomic)

Created by: Dami, Kamomo, Kim Sooji

Genre: Psychological/Smut

Oh boy, I sure do love submissive yanderes! This one is more on the psychological aspect since he has of yet done anything that i would consider violent or manipulative, but is completely ready to give everything to the female lead and is afraid of being thrown away by her. Currently, the first season is finished with about 35 chapters.

The story starts out with Hyoon-so going out into a snowstorm to buy food. As she goes out, she finds a half frozen person sitting in the snow and brings him back to her apartment to take care of him. She has to take care of him by helping him shower (as he nearly passes out in the bathroom), giving him clothes and feeding him. Considering that they are in a snowstorm, Hyoon-so allows him, Ji-hyo to stay in her apartment. We see that Ji-hyo has been basically just living by sleeping with people in their houses, and is cautious about Hyoon-so's kindness initially, even trying to sleep with her as repayment (though she shuts him down due to his health). We get to see more of his backstory, seeing that Ji-hyo was in a broken household, with his mother sleeping with a lot of men and basically never cleaning up. During this time, Hyoon-so continues to take care of Ji-hyo, bandaging his bruises and getting him medication as the snowfall continues. The two cuddle with each other when the power goes out, which leads to him getting a panic attack after waking up, begging for Hyoon-so to accept any sort of payment. When she refuses, he talks about how he ended up in the snow, being picked up by an older woman and beaten by her husband when he was caught. Hyoon-so ends up pleasuring Ji-hyo after the entire panic attack in a way to calm him down (at least that's what I see). The next day Hyoon-so gets a call from someone she knows and nags her about getting sick this time before offering her a job at his company as a photographer.

As the snow storm goes on, the two of them get closer and closer to each other, until Ji-hyo eventually quits his job of being essentially a prostitute and the two sleep together. We get another flashback to Hyoon-so after his mother dies, taking on part time jobs, being abused by others and sleeping with women to get money, before eventually being with Ji-hyo, someone he has now fallen for. Hyoon-so goes to the interview while Ji-hyo goes to his workplace, deciding that if Hyoon-so throws him away, he will decide to freeze for good rather than accept anyone else's help. After being assaulted via broom by a female customer, Hyoon-so takes care of Ji-hyo and starts to take pictures of him, feeling the spark of inspiration again, even dressing him up with jewelry. Although Ji-hyo feels uncomfortable with this, he decides to push forward as at this point he is willing to give up everything for Hyoon-so. We get to see how Hyoon-so got into picture taking, seeing a sunset and realizing that every moment is fleeting, however, has recently lost that feeling until she came upon Ji-hyo. Upon hearing this, Ji-hyo pushes the idea that he will do anything for Hyoon-so so as long as he can be owned by her. The two of them get closer in their relationship and Hyoon-so takes up the job of photography, even teaching some of it to Ji-hyo. When going to the studio with Hyoon-so, he is mistaken for a model, and Hyoon-so encourages him to take up the offer. Ji-hyo gets jealous when dealing with Hyoon-so's boss and things get to worse when Hyoon-so's images of Ji-hyo are placed into a gallery without her permission, causing Ji-hyo's sanity to tank even more. Ji-hyo becomes incredibly insecure because of the photos, even believing that Hyoon-so will throw him away. He spirals even harder when Ji-hyo comes home, and especially when Ji-hyo rebukes Hyoon-so's belief that she is a god in his eyes.

There's a Rat in our House is a pretty interesting case of yandere because most of the actual yandere action is not outwardly malicious but rather internally harmful to Ji-hyo. Most yanderes tend to be outwardly destructive in some capacity, either through more physical means such as violence or more psychological means like manipulation. Even in really light cases, the yandere will exhibit signs of jealousy and hostility towards those that are not their love. However, in this case most if not all of Ji-hyo's yandere tendencies are all internal, growing more and more clingy over Hyoon-so as the story goes on, before at the end of this season, spilling out his desires for her, worshiping her as a god. For these kinds of things, it makes you wonder if Ji-hyo is really a yandere at all, considering that we never really see any of his actions, but given we can see what kind of internal thinking is going on, I would still consider him one. This kind of internal yandere struggle seems to be most common in reluctant or submissive yanderes, given that they usually are able to keep their feelings under control either through sheer will or some other factor such as guilt.

This kind of reminds me of the arc in Nameless: The One thing you must recall, specifically with Yeonho, where Yeonho tries to do everything to make the female lead, Eri, happy, including doing things that make him uncomfortable, all because he's afraid of being thrown away. Given that I quite like his route, I can see that this one is very similar in terms of the things I enjoy as well. It's very nice seeing just how far that Ji-hyo will go with Hyoon-so, even if it is simply just devoting his body and his actions to do whatever she wants. It is also nice that Hyoon-so doesn't see Ji-hyo as something that she can use, and even is pretty communicative when they do have sex together, making sure that he's not uncomfortable, which doesn't exactly mesh with Ji-hyo's devoting even beyond the things he likes, but it is something you don't always see often. The final break down in the current season also sees Hyoon-so telling off Ji-hyo's behavior, trying to not only calm him down but show him that she is simply human as well, and not a god to be worshiped despite what he thinks. It does make me wonder if the story will go into a more extreme action where Ji-hyo starts to outwardly show more signs of yandere behavior, or if everything will continue being internalized.

Overall, I do really like this story. While it is rather slow burn, it is always really fascinating seeing how a yandere slowly becomes one out of kindness and just how far it will go to be devoted to the person that he loves. Plus, I can't really turn down a subby male yandere. If you are interested in this, please check it out.

[beangal-does-something]

“Hey Guys! Look What I drew! It’s older me!”

________________________________________________________________

An AU that I call “Truly Techno-Organic Sari” 

So basically, it always bugged me that there wasn’t really anything done with the fact Sari wasn’t truly human in the earlier part of the show. So, I made up stuff because I could and here we are. 

Sari was always meant to be a vessel for the AllSpark. That’s why she looked so vastly different than other protoforms. But given Cyberton’s unstable political climate even prior to the war, she was sent away for her own protection. 

Her stasis pod crash landed on Earth and remained hidden until a mining operation outside of Detroit found it millennia later. Now let’s put a pin in that for a minute. 

After the war on Cyberton and being thrown through a Spacebridge, the AllSpark starts to use its energy to search for its lost protoform. It takes a long time, but it finally senses the protoform on a planet across the galaxy. That’s when it, in Ratchet’s words, “Found Us!” and powered on the Spacebridge with its location being Earth. It was going to go to its protoform and see to it that the little one was raised with love and care. What it didn’t account for was the Autobots crashing into Lake Eerie and going into stasis for 50 years. And it definitely didn’t count on humans getting to the pod first. 

Fast forward to Sumdac finding a pod that he that he vaguely remembered asking to be brought to his lab after he was contacted by a mining company and discovering the little protoform inside. 

As a defense mechanism, Sari’s systems used Sumdac’s DNA in reformatting her body to better blend in with the planet’s natives. It even went as far as to hide her spark signature from other Cybertronians. 

After all that, the story continues largely the same in terms of plot (for Season 1 and 2), except with some changes.

Number one: Sari is a literal child both in human and Cybertronian terms and she stays a child. No age up. But she does occasionally get dreams about herself when she’s older in place she doesn’t recognize. 

The AllSpark still gives a fraction of its power to Sari in the form of the AllSpark Key. However, in this AU, whenever Sari abuses the power of the AllSpark Key, it either goes in a locked mode for a short time or its power is greatly reduced. It's the AllSpark’s way of grounding her and teaching her: With Great Power...

Now for more headcanons for this AU.

Sari is smart (which I believe is kind of canon because if I remember correctly, in one episode she’s learning the quadratic formula from Tutorbot, and that’s middle school math...and she’s eight. Also, Sumdac asks if she’s tinkered with the pocketbot which leads me to believe that even prior to the Key, Sari might have reformatted her dad’s robots). So, building from that, Sari finds her school subjects too easy, and she gets bored from not having a challenge. Que her reformatting her dad’s robots so that she can sneak away to go exploring around the city. 

When the Autobots come into her life, Sari asks Optimus if he wouldn’t mind teaching her Cybertronian subjects, like history or language. 

Having a been a data clerk in the Iacon Archives prior to joining the Autobot Academy, Optimus has a wealth of knowledge to share, and he was more than happy to teach her. 

Sari eagerly awaited Optimus’s lessons. There was finally something to challenge her mind.

Ratchet figured if the kid wanted to keep hanging around them, then he better look into human health. He started monitoring Sari’s diet and would get stressed seeing how much ‘junk’ food she ate. He started to replace all her junk food with fruits and vegetables. 

Occasionally, when Ratchet would run a check-up on her, he would pick up Sari’s actual spark beat on his equipment. At first, he thought it was a glitch because how could Sari have a spark beat? She’s organic. But the more Sari spent time around the Autobots, the more the ‘glitch’ keep happening, and Ratchet started suspecting that kid wasn’t all organic after all. 

When Prowl meditated, he sometimes felt the electromagnetic field of a newly activated protoform when Sari was nearby. For a while, he thought it was a form of his guilt manifesting. Then one day, he saw Ratchet’s equipment experiencing a “glitch”, and the cyber-ninja knew in his spark that Sari wasn’t fully human.

Prowl felt that regardless of what she was, Sari needed to be taught how to defend herself should she even need to, especially with all the trouble she seemed to get into. So, he started giving her the basics of cyber-ninja training, including their philosophies about respecting all forms of life, cybernetic or organic. 

Bulkhead and Bumblebee didn’t pay attention to Sari’s inhuman quirks. (Well, Bulkhead noticed some things, but chose not to say anything.) The two youngest of Prime’s team acted as big brothers to Sari, with Bulkhead trying to keep the other two out of trouble.

[fanfictionroxs]

The Pirate Queens

Pirate Queens Baela and Rhaena who kidnap the crown prince Jacaerys and the lord of the tides Lucerys.. well, it's more a rescue since the brothers' ship is sinking.

Baela & Rhaena ran away from home long time back because misogyny denied them their birthright. They were mere 8 years old then and their mother had just died. Horrible stuff happens and they sneak after their uncle Laenor who fakes his death to escape the tragedies of their house (and his homophobic father), but the ship the girls' follow him in crashes. The girls barely hold onto each other and survive, but their uncle never finds out that he was being followed. 30 years pass and the girls have grown to rule over all pirates with hair died black and enough scars to completely detach themselves from the identity of rich ladies.

They do not remember much of their previous life, only their mother's loving face and the dragons.. but their love for the skies and to take flight never leaves. However, they have no wish to return to dragons and the so called honorable houses where little girls are thrown under grown men. Baela and Rhaena have been free at the sea long enough to understand the madness they come from. However, one day, Rhaena hears of the tale of the flying ship and curiosity makes her seek out the storyteller who sits on a grand ship. The man is tall with a head full of black curly hair and his skin has just the slightest bit of green tinge to it. Rhaena snorts because she sees his commander clothes, but also knows a person out of their depth.. she has learnt to recognize it otherwise she would just send more people to absolutely unnecessary deaths. Better that the land creatures stay on their lands instead of trying to find fins and gills at the bottom of the ocean. The seas didn't come naturally to many, not in the way it did to her and Baela, so she wonders how this man came to be commander.

The commander/storyteller is joined by an older man with a striking resemblance to him and together they continue his story about Peter Pan helping Wendy fly with a bit of magical dust and then.. oh! A flying ship!

Rhaena almost gasps, but a hand closes around her mouth before she can and she relaxes in the hold. Baela

The older man (brother to the storyteller, Rhaena guesses) has a small ship figurine he mimics flying in the air and the sailors around the two men look enchanted. Rhaena looks back at her sister and there is a twinkle in her older sister's eye..who looks enchanted at the sight of the man with the figurine just as the sailors do and Rhaena can see the trouble the pirate queen is going to bring on their heads.. she cannot wait to assist her.

And so, by absolutely no evil machinations on the part of Baela and Rhaena, the ship of the storyteller crashes and well, what are pirates to do but sack and steal? Rhaena is disappointed at the lack of pretty dresses (Luke makes sure to always stack his ships full of dresses later on so that the pirate queens may sack happily). She's not the world's most fashionable pirate for nothing. But she guess the storyteller will have to do. He can regail her with stories of Peter Pan. And if she feels like Peter Pan stealing herself a Wendy who will tell her stories, she keeps it to herself until maybe the sisters' 4th or 5th kidnapping of the princes.

And one day, she hopes, maybe they can find a tinker bell who will sprinkle her magical dust to make Baela and Rhaena's ship Laena, fly. The magic would have to be strong to achieve such a feat, but with the help of Jace and Luke's aunty Alys, they just might be able to do it.

Epilogue: Captain Hook Aemond One-Eye comes to steals Wendy Luke who goes with him happily.. Apparently being kidnapped is not a new thing for the princes. Sometimes it's dragons, sometimes it's wolves and recently it's pirate queens. Basically, Jace and Luke become Baela and Rhaena's land husbands whom they come to visit from time to time unless the girls get impatient and just steal them. Baela has other land husbands too and Jace is a lovely addition to her harem while Jace has other husbands and a wife (Cregan, Aegon, Helaena) and Baela is a positively feral enchanting addition to his harem. Rhaena and Luke share a more platonic love much like Rhaenyra and Laenor once did because they are both super gay, but also soulmates because Peter Pan and Wendy will always be soulmates. Captain Hook cough Aemond cough is a jealous dragon, but he has no choice but to concede to his beloved. He anyway has Alys to keep him company as he follows after her like a lost boy handing her this potion and that herb to help Laena take to the skies.

[solar-tl-27]

The hanged man part 1

Winx reignited= Cryos

Hello hello and welcome too the hanged man part 1 there will be 2 hanged man cards for cryos shares this slot with riven because although they never got to meet their stories are linked!

We will ofcourse start with the art and … for the context i’m gonna have to drop so much lore for my plans for zenith OMG so let’s get into it!

LORE

Descendant of the original inhabitants of zenith. A body preserved and reformed for its seemingly unlimited magical resources.

A boy who’s face was supposed to remain unknown forever. A world who has chosen to abandon its past yet forever haunted by its remnants.

Cryos was designed as a battery his human side hidden behind the ruse of the king’s false immortality for he’s not the first battery… but determined to be the last. He descends from the original people of zenith people with extreme intellect and magical abilities. However as the magic aspects of zenith lowered the people needed to sustain their need of magic somehow. So their king was crowned a false crown that has been worn by countless people unbeknownst to the public. Until zenith gained it’s first guardian fairy in centuries then secrets started unraveling and suddenly…. He felt alive. A strong pain rushing through him as apparently a girl had punched his mechanic exterior so hard his mask shattered.

Suddenly a world opened up to him but he was also instantly thrown into the deep end with dark secrets uncovering, suddenly gaining mobility and self awareness. Tied between higher ups telling him he’s a king. And his heritage.

WHY I CHOSE THE CARD!

the hanged man represents pause, surrender, new perspective & letting go

For cryos that focus lays in surrender, pause & new perspective

Having basically been in a hollow minded state for most of his life it was basically like laying in a sensory deprivation tank your whole life only hearing whispers. His world on pause for eternity he also needs a large amount of readjustment time as although he possesses basic motor skills he’s basically new to life. Which is also why new perspective works for him in the sense that the people around him tell him one thing.. but he’s gained curiosity and wishes to learn and choose for himself. Surrender is the fact that he’ll eventually have to be locked away again if zenith’s plans are to continue. He’s defenseless against his creators. But there’s hope for him with the winx on his side!

WHY I CHOSE TO DEPICT THE CARD LIKE THIS

Looking up towards the arms of a original zenith residents arms while being held in place by the arms holding on to his shoulders from the current zenith. Dressed in his armor to show his identity yet being unmasked. A depiction of the 2 sides of who he is in contrast with eachother.

This card was the card where I realized just how much i already shifted from cute easy cards with blush & bloom to

Incredibly lore heavy cards and i am making this difficult but fun for myself lol!

His armor is incredibly fun to draw and i also love drawing his hair (he’s very hunter from toh coded in lore but a lot more mellow in personality)

Also yes the person that punched him into basically gaining consciousness was tecna lol

This was part 3 and the next one will be the first one with a trigger warning (for vomiting no worries 😅) as it will be riven’s hanged man card a more … graphic depiction of the hanged man interpretation lol

Ty for enjoying part 3!

[butterflydm]

DAV continues (with an unexpected romance)

One of my biggest quests in DAV is to pet every animal that the game allows (which are a lot). The controller vibrates when I pet them! Genuinely the true petting experience!

I am so glad that the game allowed me to voice being suspicious as fuck of Illario at the end of "Bloodbath" (which ended up being a pun, how dare they, lol) because I am suspicious as fuck of Illario! He was able to use blood magic to get Spite to back off?

And I feel like I was suspicious of him in earlier scenes too. Maybe my suspicions will prove unfounded but... he's a non-mage using blood magic to control a demon. Suspicious!

So my basic plan is to do every side quest possible before continuing with any main quests. Sadly! I didn't realize that Neve's walking tour interaction would go away after recruiting Davrin (because of the dragons attacking Minrathous and Treviso), so I will need to do that one on my second play-through, which will either be a dwarven character (because they would have a very different reaction to all things Solas) and/or a Shadow Dragon (so that I won't pick Treviso - because it makes sense to go to Treviso because it just seems more vulnerable than Minrathous!).

Turned down a romance option with Harding. I do want to flirt a lot more in my second run, I think, but I am, like, laser-locked on Lucanis for this one, lol. Literally catnip, what with being an Antivan Crow and needing to deal with spirit/demon issues.

I've gotten close to being genuine friends with several companions and I really like being able to walk into them having conversations with each other (which I feel like was more of a thing in ME3, and I liked it there too). I also like that the game flags when they have a conversation available for Rook.

On a more serious note... um, it sounds like the Griffons died in the fourth Blight because they all got blighted? Maybe? I went through the Cauldron and it feels really sad and depressing. I think that the Gloom Howler might have originally been a Warden? This is my guess. Maybe a Warden that went down to the Deep Roads hearing the Calling?

I really love how much care it feels like was put into these main regions and stories. There really aren't any thrown-away side quests that aren't connected to something (I love DAI but... man, the fetch quests and random collection bullshit. I did 100% completion on that game ONCE and never again. after that, my Inkys only did what made sense for them as a character, lol).

Super-exciting development: So I turned down romance opportunities for both Harding and Taash, and now Taash is asking me for advice about gifts for courting Harding!! I vaguely remember reading pre-game that DAV would have something like that (like how Dorian and Iron Bull can get together in DAI or Garrus and Tali in ME) but now it's happening and I'm so excited! Will there be more side romances? Stay tuned! (this is probably the best play-through for it, since I'm so focused on only Lucanis in particular, lol)

I was also able to push a bit forward on my romance with Lucanis -- I got the moment when you can either accept or decline to continue your flirtation. Since his happened earlier than some of the others, I wonder if that means he has a potential other relationship if Rook declines to follow through on the flirtation (or if it's based on high friendship with him).

This scene was just as delightful as the coffee date. Genuinely, this type of romance in RPG always delights me? The messier the romance the better, tbh. I'm so thrilled for my tiny elf Rook for getting their almost-kiss and hope that they get everything their heart desires when it comes to Lucanis.

We also had a conversation with Spite during that scene and that was very interesting, because Spite feels like Lucanis hasn't lived up to his side of the deal. Very very interesting! Their deal was about working together to escape the prison and to take revenge on their captors (and to live, which was interesting).

Anyway, I'm about to go on another group mission to help the Wardens (another great thing! This is the second group mission we've done in the game, where we take along the rest of the team too, and I love it so much), but I wanted to post because I hit a couple of fun romantic milestones. I will be playing more tonight and tomorrow. <3

[eternalera]

my problems with jjk 271... beware of spoilers- if you havent heard them already lol

surprisingly im fine with the ending part of the ending, like what gege was trying to do. with gojo no longer needing to be the strongest because he's trained the next generation to be what he was saying the higher ups were so scared about. he said that the next generation of sorcerers were gonna be extremely strong so much so that basically the higher ups couldnt do anything against them so more gojo's in terms of strength and stuff like that.

gojo changed jujutsu society and while it is present and it does show it as in his dream does come true its done so in such a... a bad way. the whole reason this manga was started was because yuuji swallowed the finger but it continued because of gojo's ideals and gojo's dream.

but he's thrown away the second that it's convenient. i get not liking characters that are too strong or that youve made. but if theyre that impactful and that important to the story then... suck it up and write

you cant just throw away everything that theyve done because you dont like them, thats gonna make for a shitty ending and thats what happened.

gojo shouldve gotten a funeral, at least a scene of a funeral or at least a grave. maybe one even next to nanami where the trio could stand there and possibly talk for a moment to try and end the chapter. then we couldve gotten the flashback with yuuji and gojo with gojo telling him that yuuji has to forget him.

that wouldve worked so much better rather than them going on some random ass mission. i get that its supposed to be them returning to normal, but at the same time maybe you couldve ended it with them receiving that mission smiling and then going off to do it as the manga then ends all after you resolve everything.

trying to show that everythings back to normal and then ending it is like trying to read a book backwards. it spoils the ending. the ending being that everything has been resolved after a long journey.

it would give a somewhat satisfying end to gojo's character and what he was trying to accomplish and hell maybe you'd even get some sort of scene with all of them thanking him. i still want a scene of megumi or yuuji thanking gojo for everything and yuuji thanking nanami. but we just dont get that.

what gege was trying to do, make it seem like everything was normal again and that they were returning to it after such a long battle wouldve been fine with me. but how he got there really bothered me.

not to mention that i wouldve liked that whole mission bit to be cut out. it adds literally nothing except them being the main trio and fighting off curses (which i'll always love but like... maybe not in the last chapter when the main battle has already happened).

that couldve been for gojo's funeral like stated earlier. it couldve been used for them thanking everyone who's helped them along the way.

i guess we dont have all of the pages but still... kinda hard to come back from that.

these are all just my thoughts on the jjk ending though. i might rewrite it to fit this later on :)

if i do i'll post it too so dw :D

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan

4/5. Releases 9/24/24.

Vibes: arranged marriage, bride swap, warrior hero, Secret Identities

Heat Index: 6.5/10

The Basics:

Tamsyn is the royal whipping girl, which means that though she has been raised like a princess—even calling the princesses her sisters and the king and queen her parents—her ultimate duty is to take the punishment meant for her adoptive siblings. She takes it again when Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, demands a princess to marry in exchange for his continued protection of the kingdom. Veiled for the wedding night, Tamsyn is given to Fell in place of a real princess... something that, despite their immediate connection, he isn't happy about upon realizing it. He has no choice but to keep her—but as the two make their way to Tamsyn's new home, they have to decide whether they can even trust each other. Because not doing so could cost them their lives.

The Review:

I'll be honest—the past few historical romances I've read by Sophie Jordan have been a bit light on the romance for me. And fantasy romance in particular can be a mixed bag on that level as it is. So I'm happy to say that this series is off to a SOLIDLY "fantasy Romance" (emphasis on the romance) start. Really, a lot of this first book was laying the groundwork for the general world and big plot, while giving us a clearer idea of our characters and teeing up the direction in which their love story is going. Which I'm not mad at!

From the beginning, you get the sense that Tamsyn has a personality, has desires and needs... but her role as the whipping girl has essentially forced her to push her individuality away. That's compelling to me, especially when she's paired with Fell, someone who is all about self-determination and responsibility and carving out his own destiny. While the two do have an instant physical attraction—and why shouldn't they? They sound hot—the trust is immediately gone as soon as Tamsyn's real identity is revealed.

And... I like that! I like that they have this amazing moment together—Tamsyn's first time, by the way—only for it to be thrown off instantly. It creates a good amount of angst on both sides. However, it's well-balanced because, despite that angst, they also have to focus on immediate dangers, rough travel, and so on.

The Big Fantasy Plot isn't like, a shocker. You'll probably be able to predict the twist fairly on (which isn't a bad thing, to me). Again, we're definitely more laying the groundwork here. If anything, I feel like we needed a bit more time with Fell and Tamsyn getting to know each other. But again, that does seem to be somewhat symptomatic of the plot of this book—how much can they really trust each other at this point? The book is bringing them together, and it's far from a standalone, so I feel like the true emotional intimacy will come later.

For the most part, this is really more of a fun time, an adventure. I will say—something I found so insightful was the handling of Stig, Tamsyn's childhood friend-turned-Friend Guy who only acts on his feelings when he realizes she's going to marry Fell, who tells her she's "more than a whipping girl".

Tamsyn's response is somewhat conflicted, but she's mostly like "Yeah... So why are you only offering me the chance to escape NOW?"

So refreshing. The Friend Guy is a type I hate more than anything. It's a Mal from Shadow and Bone thing. He's always been the heroine's friend, he doesn't make a move, and suddenly I'm supposed to see him as the best option because... friends? Because Other Man Scary?

And to be fair, Fell isn't a bad guy at all. He's big, he's gruff, he's a warrior, he's definitely dangerous. But he clearly has a good heart, and even when he's pissed at Tamsyn, he's never abusive. Stig, however, presents him as this threatening violent guy—and Stig clearly sees HIMSELF as this softer, safer option.

That's really deconstructed here, and I so appreciated it.

The Sex:

I wouldn't call this overly steamy—you have two full-length sex scenes and one scene that is EXTREMELY hot, but not... mutually satisfactory...?—but it's definitely heated. That first scene? So good. You really get the physical chemistry between Fell and Tamsyn.

And there's a whole... thing... that I can't spoil.... But it involves examinations... and it's SO. GOOD. I was clutching my pearls.

I'm a sucker for a "fuck first feelings later" romance. And this does that quite well.

I'm excited for more from this series, and honestly? That's great. While it does feel like a lot of setup, it was entertaining setup. I'm ready to get into what happens next—in the big plot, yeah, but mostly within Fell and Tamsyn's romance.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[big-nerd-boi]

A sneak peak of a part of my very own storyline/ au/ fanfic or something- I don’t know guys I’m just here for monkeys.

But I do have a name for it!

Kill the crown.

Pretty cool right? I think so-

Okay basic run down!

At the end of

“the journey to the west”

Which I have not read yet so bear with me on this canon divergence— Wukong goes to the jade emperor to have his crown removed. JE decides that no, Wukong is too unruly and dangerous to keep around; unfortunately killing him is out of his options because Wukong is effectively completely immortal now, so instead— JE recites a variation of the crown’s spell and effectively puts Wukong into a coma cannot wake himself up from.

From there, Wukong is thrown back onto flower fruit mountain ( the art is of Wukong in his coma) and left to rot. Neither his brothers nor master know where he is, so they wait… and wait- until they continue with their own lives.

Eventually heaven is taken over by someone else, the jade emperor destroyed by a creature only known by the veiled emperor.

No one knows their face, their real name, or the extend of their powers. Only that they’ve laid siege on the celestial realm, destroying anyone who stands in their way.

Fifty earthly years pass, parts of China are now controlled by the veiled emperor as well- and said power is creeping along, covering more and more kingdoms.

Humans and demons alike of course fight back, warring against the celestial realm.

One free kingdom is The Kingdom of the Eastern Sun. Ruled by a demonic king, and his empress… the stone ape, the long armed gibbon, Min-Yáng. Together she and Bojing ( her husband ) have four children.

The main of which is the second oldest, Ming-Yue/ Yue for short. Over the years, there have been rumors of Monkey King’s staff being hidden among the earth- and she was fascinated by it.

She was even more intrigued when a general spoke about finding what they thought to be said staff, requesting her parents for an expedition group.

Heng, Min-Yáng’s sworn brother and the stone baboon, offered to join this party. Yue snuck out, hiding away to join the crew. No one was any wiser until it was too late to bring her back.

Finding the staff is the catalyst, even more so when Yue plucks it from the crater it had formed when falling from heaven.

From then on, she and her uncle Heng are hunted by misguided ( if not outright forced ) celestial soldiers, even other demons! All of them wanting the staff to give to the new emperor.

There is only one person still on the mortal plane that can help, the legendary monkey king. But only one of equal power and strength can awaken him from the crown’s curse.

Someone that had been dead for decades, the last monkey born from stone… the six eared macaque: Luhan.

And that’s a quick summary of Kill The Crown so far!

Of course there’s so many more characters and details I’m skipping over like Yue’s siblings, Guanyin’s role, and so much more!! But dang I’m so excited to share this story with everybody! Of course, soon to come is art of everybody once I format it all to Tumblr. But if you’re too impatient- my insta has quite a bit of kill the crown art!

[geddy-leesbian]

RE2 Serrennedy AU headcanons

(I'm a Darkside Chronicles stan on main so that version of the events is usually what I have in mind, with some bits and pieces from other canons thrown in)

so a lot of these were in a fic I posted like a couple months ago and eventually deleted because I wasn't happy with it, so until I rewrite and post it again here they are in list format

Prior to Luis and Leon meeting: Birkin is how Luis ends up getting transferred to Raccoon City. There's something in Wesker's Report about how Birkin went totally insane when he felt upstaged by the 10 year old Alexia Ashford, and while Luis isn't as impressive as her, I can still see Birkin's ego feeling somewhat threatened when Umbrella Europe starts trotting out their new hotshot child prodigy. He would hope Luis just meets the same fate as Alexia and dies in an experiment, but it never comes, Luis just continues to be impressive and live up to expectations, so eventually he gets really psycho on main again and starts scheming to get Luis transferred to Raccoon City. So that he can take matters into his own hands and arrange a tragic "lab accident."

There's enough rumors and gossip for Luis to be able to figure out that the transfer is likely bad news for him, but he doesn't feel like he has much of a choice– Either he accepts it and maybe gets killed, or he tries to fight the transfer and gets branded "disloyal" and sent to Rockfort.

Leon and Luis meet at a bar on the way to Raccoon City that Leon stops at when he decides not to go. But then Luis lets a bit about what's happening slip, and Leon goes into hero mode and decides he does want to go after all, and Luis goes along with it because he's instantly down bad for Leon. (it's not essential reading for this post but I have a one-shot of them meeting that spawned this AU)

Luis would try to downplay how much he knows about Umbrella overall, acting like he had no idea what they were up to until he got transferred to Raccoon City. Leon is still naive enough to not question much, but Claire would be a lot more suspicious.

Overall Luis is kinda useless at first. He goes into it with a daydream/fantasy about how the little bit of shooting he did with his grandfather will kick in and be enough that he'll be badass and save Leon. That does Not happen. He doesn't panic and become a burden or anything, but he can't contribute much as far as fighting goes. Of course he's brilliant and able to help with puzzles/navigation/etc.

Luis tries to feel useful by being obsessive about making sure Leon is okay. He gets so much as a scratch, and Luis wants to clean and slap a bandaid on it.

SHERRY. Luis becomes the Designated Babysitter because it's a way for him to be useful, and at first he's Struggling because he has like negative experience with children. Like when he was Sherry's age, he was being groomed by Umbrella and being told how he was so much smarter and more mature than normal kids his age and already working on his degree and being treated like an adult for the most part. So not only has he never been around kids her age, he has no idea what it's like to even be a kid her age. And it doesn't help that she's Sherry Birkin. "hey so I'm like 75% sure your dad was going to kill me haha" isn't a great icebreaker. But once they warm up to each other, Luis ends up being a natural at the whole Being A Dad™ thing. He has no idea what he's really doing, but she likes him and he tells stories and sings to her when they're not worried about being quiet, and carries her to comfort her when they don't want to make noise.

Luis literally just speed runs having a family. Dude goes from being a man whore sleeping around with random women to basically having a husband, daughter, and sister in a few hours.

Tbh I'm still kind of thinking about how exactly Ada would fit into everything, but she would definitely know about Luis to some extent. She wouldn't want to give away too much, but might drop something about her "boyfriend, John Clemens," knowing that Luis would recognize the name, but to Leon and Claire it would sound pretty generic and not mean anything.

And Luis would REALLY want to get (and stay) the fuck away from her after that, because 1. he's playing with his cards close to his chest witch Claire and Leon and trying not to let on just how much he knows about Umbrella/how involved he really is, and doesn't want to run into people who know about him and might. 2. He's not sure what the hell he's going to do after this, and therefore would like it if no one at Umbrella finds out where he was and thinks Luis just fucked around partying the whole time, and didn't go to Raccoon City. (While he definitely doesn't want to go back to Umbrella, burning the bridge literally puts his life in danger.)

So when Leon and Claire bicker about going after Ada, Luis would jump in to back up Claire. It would be for his own personal reason, but his argument to appeal to Leon would be that clearly Ada knows what she's doing and can take care of herself, so instead of going after her they should focus on finding people who do need help. (they would still bump into Ada here and there tho)

Using Leon A/Claire B as precedent, Sherry doesn't get infected, to make a neat happy ending easier. Luis goes with Claire to look for Chris, but before leaving, he drills into Leon (and Sherry to some extent) what to say/do: Play dumb and naive. Insist that he drove into Raccoon City and saw shit on fire and knew something was up, but no idea what. All he did was go to the police station, find it was trashed and Sherry was the only person there. He took Sherry and immediately left the city, without looking around or investigating what was happening. And thanks to having 3 people working together, Leon isn't visibly wounded enough to make it Immediately obvious he went through some Shit. (And Luis instructs him to simply say "rough sex" if questioned about any wounds that are noticed.)

Leon plays the part well enough that the government just views him as a potential useful idiot. He acts like he's still confused and asks if they know what happened to the city, and they feed him a bullshit cover story that he pretends to whole heartedly believe. They still tell him not to talk about it and give him some money they say is to compensate/reward him for the trouble he went through and rescuing Sherry. Really it's just more of a bribe than anything. They assume that if they're nice to him this naive kid that trusts authority and eats up the cover story will happily regurgitate what he was told and vouch that it wasn't the government's fault at all and they even treated him so well after, making him a useful idiot for damage control purposes, if the story starts getting out.

So basically: Leon isn't a government agent or anything, just a normal dude. During the questioning he also keeps saying that if they can't find Sherry's parents then he wants to adopt her, pulling the "I was an orphan too!" sob story card. And they do give him custody of her, thinking she has zero clue what happened/how her parents were involved, so keeping her with a useful idiot like Leon who won't ever try to question anything or dig into her family makes sense.

Luis also gave Leon his jacket to hold onto before leaving. It was originally a present from his grandfather to his mother and eventually got passed down to him, so it's sentimental and he's afraid of it getting fucked up on his adventure with Claire. Leon uses it as a pillow some nights.

Leon decides to just live off the government money for a bit, being unwilling to let Sherry out of his sight. Eventually Claire/Luis get an address for where Chris is and send it to Leon, before getting captured and losing contact. Leon gets there and catches him up on everything, and Chris introduces him to Barry so he's got some type of support system and not just raising Sherry all on his own, and Sherry gets to get some social interaction without Leon going down anxiety spirals worrying about if she's okay.

Chris finds out where Claire and Luis are and goes to rescue them. Leon wants to go, but stays with Sherry.

will probably do another post with headcanons for Luis's adventure with Claire and after they get back?

[the-case-book-of-fanfiction]

A Job Unfinished

Ship: Santiago "Pope" Garcia x fem!reader

Summary: It's been days since you last saw Santiago, days after he promised he'd be back. One last (very illegal) mission in Colombia, and then he'd be yours forever. But Santiago is five days late.

Word Count:

Warnings: language, back-breaking relationship fluff, the plot of the movie is basically explained, Santiago has emotional baggage, plot-related angst

☟ Continue below the fold ☟

Christ, I'm tired.

Santiago could think of nothing but his tiredness, an exhaustion that lingered so heavily he didn't think he'd ever be able to sleep again. He'd been awake too long, he'd discovered that he could push himself this far and still stay awake—he'd not even slept on the plane home.

Home was a place Santiago hadn't been in three years. His mother's country was as close as he could get to a physical home, but the woman he'd left behind in Florida with their golden retriever was true home.

It was three in the morning before he reached the apartment. He had fully expected you to be asleep, but the little light you kept on the side table was still on, and the light of the TV was glowing on the back wall, visible through the shades.

I'll have to replace those for something a little more private, he thought distantly as he unlocked the door.

You looked up immediately, at first alarmed, and then realization crossed your face.

"Santi, oh my God—"

Before you could even move off the couch, the golden—who Santiago had dubbed Lion on their first meeting—gave an excited bark and threw herself at him.

She pawed at him, placing her front paws on his shoulders.

Groaning, Santiago sank down on his sore knees, wrapping his arms around her torso and scratching.

"Hey, girl, hiya. Hi, oh, thank you," he said as she licked his face. "Ahhh, come on, Lion, relax. It's okay, I'm home now."

You had thrown off your blanket and had come to stand close by, waiting for their moment to end. Santiago struggled to push the dog off his lap and get to his feet. You took his hands helped him up, burying your face in his chest the instant he was on his feet again.

Santiago kissed the top of your head gently, cupping the back of your head with one hand. You hugged in silence, squeezing each other tightly, breathing in each other's scents.

You pushed away from him far too soon. He leaned closer, chasing your touch. You cupped his face in both your hands, smoothing your thumbs over his cheeks, wet with tears he hadn't realized had fallen.

"Oh, God, Santi," you whisper. "I thought I lost you. It was an illegal mission and I thought I lost you and I'd never get confirmation because the government wasn't backing you this time and they'd never know what happened and—" You took a deep breath. "I thought I lost you for good."

"I know, baby, I know, I'm so sorry," he whispered. He kissed your forehead. You whined, the sound barely more than a whisper, your tears falling down your cheeks in the next blink.

"Five days," you said. "It took five days more than you thought. What happened?"

Santiago hesitated. He wanted to tell you everything, wanted to just lay in your arms and tell the whole story and not care when he inevitably started to cry. But it was late. Would you really want to deal with all that?

"Santiago," you said, voice gentle. "Come on. Get out of your head. Tell us what happened." You looked down at Lion and scratched her head and she weaseled her way between you and Santiago, twisting herself between your legs. "That's what we're here for."

He shook his head. "You're not my therapist, querida, you're more than that."

"We got Lion for this reason, sweetheart. C'mon. Talk to me. I know you need to."

You guided him to the couch, sitting him down and pulling him close to your side. You pull the blanket over the both of you. It takes Lion only a second to jump back up and settle herself across both your laps.

"I remember when she could stretch all the way out and she'd still only fit in one of our laps," Santiago said softly, rubbing Lion's head. She responded with a heavy sigh. "What've you got to sigh about, not-so-little little one?"

You kissed Santi's cheek, turning his head toward you with just a light touch of your fingers to the side of his face. "It's been four, five years since we got her. She got big."

"I missed three of those years," he said, his usual frown already coming back to his face.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, pressing gentle kisses to his face. Eventually, he pressed his mouth to yours, pulling you into a long, satisfied kiss. You sighed softly into him as his tongue caresses yours. He tasted of coffee and alcohol, a pleasant mix you'd come to associate with Santiago. You always knew when the mission had been difficult when he tasted like that.

Santiago huffed when you pulled away from his mouth. You ran your thumb over his lips for a moment.

"What happened out there?"

He sat back against the couch. "Too much," he said, at last. You waited, giving him all the time he needed to talk. Sure, it was nearing four in the morning, but you didn't care about your lost sleep. Your boyfriend had come home at last, and something in him had very clearly broken.

Santiago leaned close once again, placing kisses along your neck that started out gentle but soon left marks you knew would be a deep shade of purple when you woke up. You threaded your fingers through his curls, relaxing against the touch of his mouth.

"It went wrong...almost immediately," he began, after several minutes of his kisses. "We had to...take unnecessary lives. Lives we thought we could spare. Lorea's guards."

"Ah." You knew enough about the mission from Santiago's quick explanation when he'd showed up to explain what his last job would entail.

"Then we couldn't find Lorea. Or the money, at first. It was in the walls. The whole damn house. And T...Tom wanted all of it, as much as we could take. I'll admit, I wanted it all, too. I just kept thinking...we'd finally be able to afford a bigger apartment in a better part of town, I could fix your car, we'd be set for...for a long time, at least. We missed the hard out."

You startled beside him. You'd heard stories of Delta Force from before you'd met them all, before you'd started dating Santiago—back when the only ones you knew were Benny and William, your neighbors from across the street when you were kids. And you knew they never missed a hard out.

"Why?"

"The money. Greed. We just wanted more." He rubbed his forehead, grimacing. You knew he was still in his head, knew he was hating himself for every decision he'd made in the past week and a half. "We burned what we couldn't take, and drove out of there with more than we planned to take. Killed more guards on the way because we'd missed the hard out and still didn't get out before Lorea's family got back from church."

You stilled. "Santi, please tell me you didn't—"

"The family's fine. We didn't do anything to them. That was one rule I wouldn't break."

You kissed his hair. "Oh, thank God."

He nodded. "We stole too much. The helicopter couldn't take it. Went down as we reached the mountain ranges. A bunch of villagers got ahold of the money and... Tom, he..." Santiago squeezed his eyes shut. There was pain buried deep there, you could tell. Twice now he'd stumbled over Tom's name. An ominous feeling settled in your chest. "He got angry. Possessive of it. We killed a couple of the villagers, him and Frankie and me." He sniffled. "We paid for their deaths and the mules we borrowed from the village. Made as much of the trek as we could with the mules, then cut 'em lose and strung all the bags together to carry it ourselves. Over a hundred bags, carried by five men." He chuckled, the sound full of self-loathing. "God, I was a fucking idiot."

You kissed his temple. "Hey. I hate it when you say that, you know that."

"You haven't heard the worst of it yet."

"Then tell me."

"We didn't notice we were being followed for days. I don't know how none of us knew, but we didn't know until it was too late, until T..." He paused, clenching his jaw tightly. You knew what he was going to say before he said it. "Until Tom was shot."

It felt like all the air had been sucked out of you. Tom had never been your favorite guy on the spec ops team, but he was the one with a family.

"He's gone. Tom's gone. Instant. Benny and Ironhead got into this huge fight about it, and I...I kinda lost my head after that. Couldn't think straight. We lugged the money and his body as far as we could, but then...we knew we couldn't get it all home with us, so..." He sighed. "We left it in a fucking valley. Left it there to rot and get covered in snow and never be seen again." He laughed, the sound painful and mirthless, tears squeezing from the corners of his eyes as he did. "And Benny took the coordinates. I didn't know at the time, but they're sitting in my pocket now, and it's practically burning a hole through my pants."

You cradled him in your arms. "We'll worry about that later. Not now, not tonight. Not until you've had some proper rest and have a clear head. Why don't we get you—"

"I'm not done yet," he whispered.

You nodded. "Okay."

"We only took money that could fit in our packs and then we took Tom home. Five days late, because we had to walk the whole thing." He covered his eyes with one hand. "We walked through the fucking Andes. We're insane. God, we're insane." He rubbed his face. "And then we left all the money to Tom. To his family." Finally, he looked at you for the first time since he'd told his story. "I can't even face his girls. Molly'd kill me. His daughters would kill me. But at least they can pay to go to college."

You thumbed away the tears in his eyes. "Santi, I want you to listen to me, okay?"

He nodded.

"It's not your fault."

"I offered them the job, I brought them down there, I—"

"Santiago. Listen."

He quieted.

"You know how jobs like these go. There are things you can control, and things you can't. The guy who followed you? That wasn't something you could control. I know for sure you did your best to keep everyone safe. I also know how Delta Force can be. You're all headstrong and full of yourselves and you get so angry with each other so easily, especially when money's involved. Especially when it's something so near to you." You took his hand in yours, squeezing it reassuringly. "This mattered to you. The boys knew that. It's why they agreed to it. It didn't go the way it was supposed to, but you've all worked similar jobs before. You all knew the risks, even if this time was a little...riskier."

Santiago buried his head in your shoulder. "What you were worried about. Losing me in an illegal mission. It's what Molly's going through right now. That's on me."

You hugged him tight to your chest. Lion whined as she was squished between your bodies, shoving her nose between you and up to lick Santiago's chin. Through his tears, he let out a small laugh.

"Hi, girl. I know, I know I'm upset. I know you just wanna help."

She wriggled, her dog-smile appearing at the playful tone in Santiago's voice that contrasted his words, the voice he always used to speak to her.

Lion flopped against his chest, rubbing against him and urging him to pet her.

"See? She says it's not your fault. She says death isn't something you can control, Santiago."

"She's a good therapy dog, but I don't think she's saying that," he said, fixing you with his sad stare. "I'm pretty sure it's just you."

You kissed his temple again. "One day, you'll realize I'm right. You'll admit one day that you can't control everything, try as you might."

"I got him killed," Santiago whispered.

"You didn't pull the trigger." He gave you a look. "Come on, Santi, let's get you to bed. You've been through a lot, and you need a clear head to deal with it all."

You stood and pulled him off the couch with you. Lion followed you down the hallway and waited outside the bathroom while you pulled Santiago's clothes off, the same ones he'd been wearing for days as he and the boys trekked through the Andes, and got him into a quick shower. You waited with Lion while he showered and dried himself off.

You tugged him into bed and curled up in his arms. Lion jumped up and curled up at your feet.

"Feel any better?" you whispered, tracing your fingers across his face.

"A bit," he admitted. He tightened his hold on your torso. "I've missed this. Holding you. Actually being in the same bed."

You hummed your agreement. "Don't you ever go away for three years again."

He brushed your hair out of your face and tucked it behind your ear and kissed you softly. "I told you—that was my last job. I'm never leaving again."

"I hope to God you're right." You snuggled closer, kissing him one last time. "Get some sleep, Santi. You need it."

"I know," he whispered.

But his thoughts turned, again, to the paper William had shoved in his hand, still sitting in the pocket of the pants on his bathroom floor, and he knew he wasn't completely done.

Delta Force never missed a hard out. And they also never left a job unfinished.

☞ ❊ ☜

Triple Frontier // Santiago "Pope" Garcia

☞ ❊ ☜

Translation: (I don't speak Spanish, I hope this is right.)

Querida = darling

[weirdsideblog]

Jesus Was Vored, But Not in Communion

Yes I’m being serious. So serious that it’s actually silly, but- just hear me out.

Thesis: The Communion jokes, while funny, are theologically incorrect- but not because Jesus wasn’t vored

(Symbolically speaking)

- “Haha, Christians have a ritual where they pretend to vore Jesus” well. Yes. But actually no. Well- it depends on which branch of Christianity you’re talking to, but. Anyway-

- BUT communion actually has very little to do with actual vore or cannibalism in its symbolism; by comparing his body and blood to basic foods, Jesus was making the point that he’s the source of true (perfect, everlasting) life. We eat bread and drink wine to remind ourselves that our souls need Jesus the way our bodies need food and drink. (Also looking forward to when we all get to eat and party together in heaven with Jesus later, and unity with him and all our fellow believers past, present, and future because we’re all symbolically at the same table)

- My church denomination and many others see this as symbolic only- because it is. However, some churches believe that once blessed by a priest, the bread and wine somehow literally become the literal body and blood of Jesus. I’m not sure where they got that idea, because Jesus sure didn’t say that- he was talking about doing this in remembrance of him, and it was pretty clearly a metaphor at the time when he said it because it was really just bread and wine that he was showing to the disciples. But anyway. I’m not a theologian, and churches can disagree on weird details like that and we’ll look at each other kinda funny, but like it’s fine because that’s not the point (is what a lot of people in church history should have said, but I digress)

- Anyway. Communion isn’t really about vore. Okay like a little bit because there’s also the theme of Jesus having given himself up so completely for our salvation, but literal eating isn’t the point. Even if it were, it would be a lot more akin to cannibalism than vore, which is sometimes a shaky line, but. That’s not the point.

- But you know what really is about vore?

- Other things.

- Jonah, obviously (tl;dr, guy gets thrown off a ship in a storm, and God sends a giant fish or maybe a whale to swallow him, in which he stays safely for three days before being thrown up on shore) #safe vore

- Now we get to the actual part about voring Jesus

- The story of Jonah takes place in the Old Testament, before Jesus came to Earth. Everything in the Old Testament is a setup and explanation of what would eventually happen and be fulfilled by Jesus.

- In the Old Testament, death, Hell, and the grave are often surrounded by metaphors of an open mouth or of being swallowed. Jonah was in the fish for three days before being thrown up… Jesus died and was buried in a cave for three days before being resurrected

- But it gets better. The whole reason Jonah got into the situation with the storm was because he turned away from God. Humanity as a whole turned away from God when Adam and Eve chose to turn their backs on God, essentially (which was a big deal because he created the whole everything and thus has authority over it like an artist has authority over their own painting), and we all continue to do that when we do bad things that God doesn’t want us to do and don’t do good things that God does want us to do. Jesus came to cover that offense so we don’t bear the punishment for it and can be in perfect family relationship with God again, because God’s desire isn’t ultimately to punish us for our sin but to bring us back to him because he loves us. But because God is infinitely perfect and infinitely just, he can’t just allow all the evil that’s ever been done to just be… basically ignored. SOMEone had to be punished, and Jesus (who is also God- they’re like three people but also the same person at the same time, nobody really understands it)

- Thus, Jesus had to die

- Remember death and the grave being compared to being eaten? And Jonah, as a result of his disobedience, being swallowed for three days (this wasn’t a punishment, just a weirdly symbolic method of protection from what would have been the outcome)? And then Jesus, bearing the outcome of our disobedience, died and was buried for three days?

- Jesus was vored by death itself

- Then he escaped (didn’t just escape- defeated death, but that’s a layer of theology I won’t get into here)

- So yes, Jesus was vored, but not in Communion

- Also sometimes New Testament writers like Paul talk about being “hidden in Christ” so maybe…

- Jesus kinda vores us, too

- NOT REALLY- I said I was being serious but that was silly, it’s just that some of the language has those #safe vore, #protective vore, #extreme cuddling kinda *vibes* y’know?

- Anyway.

- I’m not going to hell for this because if I sinned by writing it, I’m safe in Jesus because he was already vored by death in my place. But I really don’t think this is a bad thing to do at all.

- Go forth in this knowledge and make theologically accurate-ish Jesus vore jokes

- If you want

- Lol